Everything you need to know about the Dutch election

Dutch
campaign posters are seen in front of a windmill in Amsterdam,
the Netherlands.REUTERS/Michael
Kooren

On Wednesday, March 15, the Dutch will vote to elect their next
prime minister — the first of many important elections in Europe
this year.

The election is particularly meaningful as it is seen as a
bellwether for the French and German elections later this year,
as a swell of populism is surging through the Western world.

Geert Wilders is the frontman of Dutch populism and, although he
is polling very high, the Netherlands' proportional
representation and multi-party parliamentary system will make it
tough for him to take power.

Here is everything you need to know about how the Dutch elections
will unfold.

How it works

The Dutch political landscape is very fragmented, with over 28
parties that Dutch people will be able to choose from in the 2017
elections. In the 2012 elections, 11 parties made it into
parliament and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)
and the Labour Party formed a coalition government.

Because of the vast number of parties competing in the election,
a coalition between two or more parties is needed to form a
majority government. The negotiations to form the coalition
generally take several weeks. There are 150 seats in the Dutch
parliament and a majority of seats are needed to secure control
of the government.

The main parties

These are the six parties most likely to win the most seats in
this year's election:

The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
(VVD)

The VVD is the party of the ruling Prime Minister Mark Rutte. It
won 40 seats at the 2012 general election and the latest polls
show that it could remain the biggest party in parliament, albeit
with fewer seats.

The Party for Freedom (PVV)

Geert Wilders, the divisive figure at the head of this
anti-immigration euroskeptic party, has led the opinion polls for
the last few months and was favourite to win the popular vote.
This trend has reversed over the last few
weeks, however.

The Labour Party (PvdA)

The Labour party, led by Lodewijk Asscher, won the second-most
seats in the last elections but is likely to a lot of ground on
Wednesday. The party has been heavily criticised for its support
of stark austerity measures.

The Christian Appeal (CDA)

Sybrand van Haersma Buma heads one of the most conservative of
the main Dutch parties, the CDA. Historically very religious and
socially conservative, the party has become more secular in
recent years.

Jesse Klaver, who heads the Greens, is the country's youngest
party leader at 30 years old. His party is campaigning on a
theme of "time for change," which has drawn support especially
from younger voters.

But, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Monday there was a real
possibility that Wilders could win the popular vote.

"There is a real risk that on March 16 we can wake up in this
country and Geert Wilders is leading the biggest party and that
will send a signal to the rest of the world," he told journalists in Rotterdam, according
to Reuters, and asked Dutch voters to stop "the wrong populism"
at the polls.

Rutte's strong response has been praised domestically, but it
could also play into Wilders' hands considering his
anti-immigrant agenda. Some of the main themes of the election
campaign were have been driven by Wilders' extreme agenda and
revolved around immigration and integration.